Huckleberries: Coeur d’Alene’s charms win over travel writer

You can count travel writer Josh Noel as another outsider who is gobsmacked by viewtiful Coeur d’Alene. Superlatives ran wild last week when Noel wrote about the Lake City for the Chicago Tribune: “Perched high in the Idaho panhandle, Coeur d’Alene is both literally and figuratively far from the places that conventional wisdom considers aspirational getaways, like, say, Martha’s Vineyard, Tahoe or Aspen. But the anonymity only feeds Coeur d’Alene’s charm; if you don’t know about it and don’t make the effort to find out, well, more for the rest of us. But once discovering Coeur d’Alene, you might wonder how you were ever so incurious about northern Idaho.” Later in the article, Noel describes meeting vacationing Kray and Pattie Hensley, of Sonoma, California, for beers at swell new pub Crafted in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The journalist asked the Hensleys whether Coeur d’Alene reminded them of “near-to-home getaway” Lake Tahoe. It did. A lot. But Kray, 71, said he’d rather be in Coeur d’Alene. His wife, Pattie, 70, agreed: “California is more built up. This feels more loose. It’s more pristine.” Noel writes that “loose” is a fair description of Coeur d’Alene. “There’s no pretense here – just a quick, seductive charm and progressive western mentality.” Progressive? Coeur d’Alene? Well, “the city by the lake” is as progressive as you can get in North Idaho.

Protestants?

Cis Gors of Kootenai (near Sandpoint) was ready last week when my Huckleberries blog crowd discussed the question: What do you say to Mormon/Jehovah’s Witnesses/evangelical missionaries who ring your door bell? Fifty years ago, Cis recalls playing cards with a sister-in-law when a missionary came to the door. Her groggy brother-in-law who worked nights answered the door, said something, and the proselytizer left quickly. Nearby, Cis and his wife busted up. What? The sleep-deprived man asked. “Honey,” said his wife, “we’re not prostitutes, we’re Protestants.”

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “In Caracas/it’s now thought a treat/to sit down with/more than just one sheet” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue “Toilet Paper Shortage Hits Venezuela” … Poll: If you don’t know the proper abbreviation for Coeur d’Alene, you’re not alone. We Coeur d’Alene residents don’t either. I asked my Huckleberries blog readers to choose a preferred abbreviation. Result? “CDA” received 36.5 percent of the vote. “CdA” finished a strong second with 30 percent. And Cd’A was third with 23 percent. Some even voted for “Cda” … On turning 77 last week without a wife, curmudgeonly Herb Huseland of Bayview philosophized: “Having struck out several times, I finally decided that either I wasn’t good at being a husband, or I wasn’t good at picking the right women” … Tweetable: “If Kevin Pangos’ hair had a Twitter feed, I would follow it. Just sayin. #InternetMakeItHappen” – Christa Hazel, chairwoman of the Coeur d’Alene School Board.

Parting shot

That “subtract the words” resolution met the same fate as the “Christian state” one when the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee met last week. Remember? Last month, the local Republicans rejected, without discussion, a resolution seeking to have Idaho designated as a “Christian state.” Last week, they gave the same treatment to a resolution requesting that Idaho drop the word “religion” from the categories protected under the Idaho Human Rights Act. The resolution played off the campaign to “Add the Words” – protection for LGBT individuals – to the act. The first resolution gained the local Pachyderms unwanted national attention. Not so much the second one. Elephants never forget.